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Plant Breeding Under a Changing Climate

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

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Definition of the Subject

The next generation of crops, capable of being productive in an increasingly variable and changing climate, will rely on genetic interventions based on process understanding, selection of target traits in managed environments, and high-throughput phenotyping and genotyping more than ever before. This entry discusses examples from wheat and rice, recent advances in plant breeding for high yield potential environments, and also those where abiotic stress is a major limitation to productivity. The methodologies and lessons learnt are discussed in the context of breeding in the face of climate change .

Introduction

The effects of climate change on agricultural production and food security are already taking place, creating new challenges for plant breeders to act quickly. The consequences of climate change on agricultural systems across the globe will be heterogeneous [35]. The projections for 2050 indicate that the increase in temperature (1–3°C) and CO2...

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Abbreviations

Phenotyping:

The activity of measuring the physiological, morphological, developmental, and chemical characteristics of plants.

Trait:

A measurable phenotypic character or attribute, for example, plant height.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Lynne McIntyre (CSIRO) and Andrzej Kilian (DArTs Pty Ltd) for contributing illustrations on genotyping. FD acknowledges the financial support of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, CSIRO and the Climate Adaptation Flagship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Plant Industry Cooper Laboratory, Warrego Highway, P.O. Box 863, Gatton, QLD, 4343, Australia

    Dr. M. Fernanda Dreccer

  2. CIMMYT Int, Apdo. Postal 6-641, Mexico D.F, 06600, Mexico

    Dr. David Bonnett

  3. CIRAD, UMR AGAP, Montpellier, F-34398, France

    Dr. Tanguy Lafarge

  4. IRRI, CESD, Los Baños, Philippines

    Dr. Tanguy Lafarge

Authors
  1. Dr. M. Fernanda Dreccer
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  2. Dr. David Bonnett
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  3. Dr. Tanguy Lafarge
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Fernanda Dreccer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Dreccer, M.F., Bonnett, D., Lafarge, T. (2012). Plant Breeding Under a Changing Climate . In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_307

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